Digital Communications

z Associated with all the access networks that are used to support
pp internet
applications is a standard network interface. All end systems/hosts or
stations are attached to it and must adhere to it – network interface card
(NIC) – consisting of hardware controlled by associated software (it
allows computers to communicate over internet e.g., LAN )

z The access lines (and the internal transmission lines used within various
networks) all use bit-serial transmission. In general, therefore, the signal
output by the NIC simply varies between two voltage levels (+V and –V) at
a rate determined by the transmission bit rate.
rate This mode of transmission
is known as baseband transmission as shown in Figure 3.1

0 1 0 0 1 1 0 Binary Data
+v
0
ÆTime
-V
V

Transmitter Receiver
Line interface Line Interface
Figure 3.1: Baseband transmission mode (one signal transmission)

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 1

 Modes of Transmission
z Thus with networks that provide a digital interface,
interface such as a LAN and
ISDN, baseband transmission is used over the access lines to the network.

z However networks such as PSTN, however, analog transmission is used

over the access lines because of the presence of a transformer
transformer. Thus prior
to transmission, the baseband signal is converted into analog signal within
same bandwidth.

z Analog
A l ttransmission
i i i a method
is th d off conveying
i voice,
i data,
d t image,
i signal
i l
or video information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude,
phase etc. This mode of transmission is known as modulated transmission
and unit that performs modulation and demodulation functions is a
modem
modem.

Figure 3.2: Modulated Transmission

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 2
 M d off Transmission
Modes T i i
z In transmission of anyy signal,
g the signal
g is attenuated
(decreased in amplitude) and distorted (misshapen) by
transmission medium, besides the presence of noise.

z I practice,
In ti the
th level
l l off signal
i l iimpairment
i t is
i ddetermined
t i db by:
• The type of transmission medium
• The length of the transmission medium
• The
Th bandwidth
b d id h off the h mediumdi
• The bit rate of the data being transmitted.
z A received signal is at its peak amplitude in the centre of each
bit cell period. Hence, in order to determine the signal level
(and hence bit) present on line during each bit cell period, the
received signal must be sampled at the centre of each bit cell.
cell

z When the receiver is doing so, it is said to be in bit synchronism

with the incoming bit stream.

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 3

 Sources of Signal Impairment
z Some reasons for signal impairment are: time, attenuation, limited
b d idth delay
bandwidth, d l distortion,
di t ti liline noise,
i bi d effect.
combined ff t

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 4

 Transmission Media
z The type of transmission is important since various types of media
have different bandwidths.

z Each bandwidth determines the maximum bit rate that can be used.

z In transmission through a medium, a:

• Bit:
• Propagates between transmitter/receiver pairs
• Physical
Ph i l link:
li k
• What lies between transmitter & receiver
• Guided media:
• Signals propagate in solid media e.g., copper, fibre, coaxial
• Unguided media:
• Signals
Si l propagate
t freely,
f l e.g., radio
di

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 5

 Physical Media: Twisted-pair Lines (TP)
z Composed
p of a p
pair of lines twisted together
g and p
proximity
y of signal
g and
ground reference wires means any interference signal is picked by both
wires, reducing the effect on difference signal.

z Twisted pair lines are suitable

Twisted-pair suitable, with appropriate line driver and receiver
circuits that exploit the potential advantages gained for bit rates in order of
1Mbps over short distances (less than 100m) and lower bit rates over long
distances. By altering the length of each twist, crosstalk is reduced.

z Unshielded twisted pairs (UTPs) are used extensively in telephone

networks and (with special integrated circuits) in many local networks and
networking applications. Shielded twisted pairs (STPs), a protective screen
or shield is used to reduce further effects of interference signals
signals, but
difficult to install.

z Two insulated copper wires with the categories:

• CCategory
t 3
3: T
Traditional
diti l Ph
Phone wires,
i 10 Mb
Mbps Eth
Ethernett
• Category 5: Ethernet up to 100Mbit/s and ATM up to 155Mbit/s
..100Mbps Ethernet

Figure 3.3: Copper wire transmission media – unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 6

 Physical Media: Coaxial Cable
z Limiting
Li i i ffactors to twisted-pair
i d i liline are capacityi and d skin
ki effect
ff problem
bl ((at
higher bit rate current flows only on the outer surface of wire)

z Coaxial cable minimizes both effects. Figure 3.4 shows the signal and
ground reference wires as a solid centre conductor running concentrically
(coaxially) inside a solid outer conductor.

z Coaxial cable is used for either baseband or modulated transmission

transmission,
typically 10Mbps over several hundred metres – extensively used in cable
television networks.

z Features
F t for
f coaxial i l cables
bl (t(two concentric
t i copper conductor)
d t )
• Bidirectional flow of data
• Baseband: single channel on cable e.g. legacy Ethernet
• Broadband e.g. multiple channels on cable

Figure 3.4: Copper wire transmission media – coaxial cable.

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 7

 Coaxial Cable Signals
z IIn contrast
t t tot low
l b
bandwidth
d idth available
il bl with
ith a connection
ti
through an analog-switched telephone network, the usable
bandwidth with a coaxial cable can be as much as 350 MHz
(or higher).

z It is
i possible
ibl to
t utilize
tili th
the high
hi h b
bandwidth
d idth by:
b
• Baseband mode, in which all the available bandwidth is
used to derive a single high bit rate (10 Mbps or higher)
transmission path (channel)

• Broadband mode, in which the available bandwidth is

divided to derive a number of lower bandwidth sub
channels (and hence transmission paths) on one cable.
cable

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 8

 Coaxial Cable Signals
z Baseband mode:
• Data is normally transmitted between two DTEs in the form of
frames – blocks of characters or bytes – and with synchronous
Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
Time-Division (TDM), each frame is of a fixed length
length.
• To ensure that all systems connected to the (shared) cable transmit
data at their allotted time, a special bit pattern, known as the
synchronizing pattern is transmitted at the beginning of each
frame.

z Broadband Mode
• Using broadband mode, multiple (independent and concurrent)
transmission channels are derived from a single distribution
(coaxial) cable using a technique known as Frequency-Division
M lti l i (FDM).
Multiplexing (FDM)
• FDM requires a device known as a radio frequency (RF) modem –
similar in principle to the (audio frequency) modems used in PSTN
– between each connected device and the cable. cable

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 9

 Baseband Mode
z In baseband mode, normally the cable is driven from a single
single-ended
ended
voltage source and because of the geometry of coaxial cable,
however the effect of external interference is very low.

z In some applications, the cable is used exclusively for the

transmission of data between two systems – that is, point-to-point
while in others the normally high bit rate transmission channel is
time-shared byy a number of systems
y – referred to as multipoint
p or
multidrop configuration.

z Time-division multiplexing (TDM) is used to share the available

capacity
it off a baseband
b b d transmission
t i i channel.
h l Two
T types
t off TDM
are used:
• Synchronous (or fixed cycle) – each user has access to the
channel at precisely defined (synchronized) time intervals.

• Asynchronous (or on demand) – each user has random

access to the channel and on acquiring access, is the sole user
off th
the channel
h l ffor the
th duration
d ti off the
th transmission.
t i i

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 10

 Physical Media: Optical Fibre
z Optical fibre cable differs from both these transmission media as it carries
t
transmitted
itt d bit stream
t i fform off fluctuating
in fl t ti beamb off light
li ht in
i a glass
l fibre,
fib rather
th
than an electrical signal.

z Since light waves have a much wider bandwidth than electrical waves, optical
fib achieves
fibre hi t
transmission
i i rates
t off hundreds
h d d off MbMbps.

z Light waves are also immune to electromagnetic interference and crosstalk,

thus optical fibre is extremely useful for the transmission of lower bit rates in
electrically
l i ll noisy
i environments.
i

z Features:
• Glass fibre carrying light pulses, each pulse a bit
• High-speed operation: high-speed point-to-point transmission (e.g., 10’s-
100’s Gbps)
• Low error rate: repeaters spaced far apart ; immune to electromagnetic noise

Figure 3.5: Optical fibre transmission media

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 11

 Features of fibre Optics

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 12

 Fibre Optics Types

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 13

 Physical Media: Radio
z Data is transmitted using electromagnetic (radio) waves through free space as
i satellite
in t llit systems.
t

z A collimated microwave beam, onto which data is modulated, is transmitted to

the satellite from ground.

z A typical satellite channel has an extremely high bandwidth (500 MHz) and
provide many hundreds of high bit rate data links using a technique called time
division multiplexing
p g (synchronous
( y or asynchronous
y TDM):)
z Signal carried in Radio link types:
electromagnetic spectrum z Terrestrial microwave
• e.g. up to 45 Mbps channels
z No physical
N h i l “wire”
“ i ” and
d z LAN ((e.g., Wifi)
bidirectional • 11Mbps, 54 Mbps
z WAN (e.g., cellular)
z Propagation
p g environment • e.g. 3G: hundreds of kbps
effects: z Satellites
• Reflection • Kbps to 45Mbps channel (or multiple smaller
• Obstruction by objects channels)
• Interference
I t f • 270 msec end-end
end end delay
• Geosynchronous
y versus low altitude

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 14

 Satellites

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 15

 Attenuation
z As a signal propagates along a transmission medium (line) its amplitude
decreases – what is known as signal attenuation.

z If the cable is longer, one or more amplifiers – known as repeaters are

inserted at intervals along the cable to restore the received signal to original
level.

z Signal attenuation increases as a function of frequency

frequency. Hence
Hence, since a signal
comprises a range of frequencies, the signal is distorted.

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 16

 Distortion and Equalizers

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 17

 Example of Attenuation

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 18

 Transmission Noise

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 19

 Example of Transmission Noise

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 20

 Corrupting Influences of Signals

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 21

 Signals Impairment

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 22

 Signal Propagation Delay

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 23

 Example Solution

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 24

 Information Transmission and Coding
z Important Terms
• Information – anything that has meaning, especially
something that is somewhat expected.

• Information Encoder – converts the information into a

form that can be handled by the rest of the system.

• Channel – carries the encoded information from one place

to another data transmission or from one time to another
(data storage and retrieval).

Noise

Information Information
Channel Information Information
S
Source Encoder
Decoder Sink

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 25

 Important Terms cont’d
z Information Decoder – recovers the encoded information
(reverses the encoder)

z Information source – something the generates

information.

z Information Sink – receives or processes the decoded or

recovered information.

z Noise – anything that corrupts the information being

sent through the channel.

z Capacity – amount of information that can be delivered

by the channel to decoder. For a noiseless channel
(with no noise input) it is usually identical to be the bit
rate, but for a noisy channel will less.
Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 26
 Modulation
z Modulation
M d l i ((also
l called
ll d shift
hif kkeying)
i ) encodes
d discrete
di
data using sine waves by simultaneously altering one or
more of the fundamental components of a higher
frequency carrier signal.

z We employ three basic types of modulation for the

conversion of a binary signal into a form suitable for
transmission over the PSTN:
• amplitude, frequency and phase
z Since binary data is to be transmitted,
transmitted only two signal
levels are required. The signal switches (shifts) between
these two levels as the binary data signal alternates
(ke s) bet
(keys) between
een a binary
binar 1 and 0 0.
Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 27
 Modulation Schemes

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 28

 Modulation Schemes

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 29

 Examples of Phase Modulation:
Representation of 10110011

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 30

 Multilevel Modulation Techniques

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 31

 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 32

 Ex. Quadrature Amplitude Modulations

It conveys two analog message signals, or two digital bit streams, by changing
(modulating) the amplitudes of two carrier waves, using the amplitude-shift keying
(ASK) digital modulation scheme or amplitude modulation (AM) analog modulation
scheme
scheme.

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 33

 Phase Modulation Schemes

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 34

 Converting bits to Signals

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 35

 Encoding Schemes: Polar Schemes

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 36

 Encoding Schemes: Transition Oriented

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 37

 Clock Encoding and Extraction
z Differential Manchester encoding differs from
Manchester encoding in that although there is still a
transition at the center of each bit cell, a transition at the
start of each bit cell occurs only if the next bit cell to
be encoded is a 0.

z This has the effect that the encoded output signal may
take on one of two forms depending on the assumed start
level (high or low)

z However Manchester encoding is simply the inverted

form of differential Manchester and thus the term
differential .
“differential”

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 38

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 39
 Example of Encoding Schemes: Representing 101011100

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 40

 Error Correcting Codes
z The simplest are the Block codes ,such as Hamming, where a
fixed-size block of data has an ECC code applies to it; corrections
for one block are q
quite independent
p of the other blocks.

z Convolutional Codes have an encoding mechanism “sliding” along

the information, interspersing parity bits at frequent intervals.

z Turbo Codes are a recent development with two parallel encoders,

one with permuted data; the decoders exchange information and
mutually assist each other in resolving errors.

z When decoded
Wh d d d mostt Error
E C
Correcting
ti C
Codes
d generate t a
“syndrome” which is usually zero if there is no error and otherwise
shows the position of the errors and how to correct.

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 41

 Exercises

Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 42

 Exercises cont’d
Question 3:
• For a given data rate, which of the two modulation
techniques,
q , Amplitude
p Shift Keying
y g ((ASK)) and Frequency
q y
Shift Keying (FSK), do you expect to consume more of
the available bandwidth? Explain your answer?

Question 4:
(a)Compute the channel capacity of a 1kHz channel with
signal/noise ratio of 30dB.
(b)Compute the channel capacity of a 10kHz channel with a
signal/noise of 0 dB.

Question 5:
• A data communications link may be characterized as
being a best effort or connectionless link. What is meant
b each
by h off these
h terms??
Digital Communications BBT3101 - Networking I 43